Antagonista Manifesto

"When injustice becomes law,resistance becomes duty."

"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!" -- Mario Savio

It has to start somewhere. It has to start sometime. What better place than here? What better time than now?

Welcome to Anything that defies my sense of reason.... Class antagonism of a New World Order.

....because words will always retain their power, offer the means to meaning and, for those who'll listen, the enunciation of truth, and because being sleepwalked into fascism is not an option.

To confront ideas that radically alter our perception of the world is one of life's most unsettling yet liberating experiences.

Throw away your ambitions for membership to the socially acceptable position of wage slave.

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers." -- Article 19

Words of Wisdom

"Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience… Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem." - Howard Zinn

"If the truth can be told in a way so as to be understood, it will be believed." - Terence McKenna

"The eternal fight is not many battles fought on one level but one great battle fought on many different levels." - The Antagonist

"Besides, I think it's time to abolish politicians entirely and let everbody participate in self-government via Internet. We needed representatives in the 18th Century, because we couldn't all go to Washington. Meanwhile, times changed and our "representatives" have sold us out to the corporations, as we in the majority party all agree, whatever our differences in other matters. And we don't need "representatives" anymore; we have the Net technology to represent ourselves." - Robert Anton Wilson

"There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but, in the end, they always fall - think of it. Always." - Mohandas Gandhi

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy. Cowardice asks the question: Is it safe? Expedience asks the question: Is it politic? Vanity asks the question: Is it popular? But conscience asks the question: Is it right? And a time comes when man must take a stand that’s neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it’s right.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

"Do not ask who I am and do not ask me to remain the same. More than one person, doubtless like me, writes in order to have no face." — Michel Foucault

"You're obliged to pretend respect for people and institutions you think absurd. You live attached in a cowardly fashion to moral and social conventions you despise, condemn, and know lack all foundation. It is that permanent contradiction between your ideas and desires and all the dead formalities and vain pretenses of your civilization which makes you sad, troubled and unbalanced. In that intolerable conflict you lose all joy of life and all feeling of personality, because at every moment they suppress and restrain and check the free play of your powers. That's the poisoned and mortal wound of the civilized world." — Octave Mirbeau

"We have given away far too many freedoms in order to be free. Now it's time to take some back." - John le Carre

“We need to work like the Zapatistas do, like ants who go everywhere no matter which political party the other belongs to. Zapatistas proved people can work together in spite of differences.” - Anna Esther Cecena of the FZLN (Mexican support committee of the Zapatistas)

"Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance." - Albert Einstein

"The problem with always being a conformist is that when you try to change the system from within, it's not you who changes the system; it's the system that will eventually change you." - Immortal Technique

"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed." - Stephen Bantu Biko

"An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it." - Mohandas Gandhi

"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought". - John F. Kennedy

"There is no general legal duty to assist the police or to obey police instructions." - Rice v Connolly [1966] 2 QB 414

"All great truths begin as blasphemies." - George Bernard Shaw

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence." - Albert Einstein

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you... then you win." - Mohandas Gandh

"Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear." - George Orwell

"No one understood better than Stalin that the true object of propaganda is neither to convince nor even to persuade, but to produce a uniform pattern of public utterance in which the first trace of unorthodox thought immediately reveals itself as a jarring dissonance." - Leonard Schapiro

“If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.” - Benjamin Franklin

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Dr. Martin Luther King

"There is no act too small, no act too bold. The history of social change is the history of millions of actions, small and large, coming together at points in history and creating a power that governments cannot suppress." - Howard Zinn

"We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men." - George Orwell

"Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage-to move in the opposite direction." - Albert Einstein

"The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw

"To be governed is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the virtue nor the wisdom to do so. To be governed is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorised, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be placed under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolised, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; And to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonoured. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality." - PJ Proudhon

33 comments:

Hold on a minute, it was the left that celebrated Obama, purely on the basis of his skin colour. I remember even the most hard-line Marxist of my university lecturers believing it was the beginning of a new era.

It's no surprise to hear, once again, that white people (now including Obama), Europeans, Americans, Israelis, the West, are to blame for all the world's ills. And it's even less of a surprise to hear it from the secretary of the Hugo Chavez Fan Club. (Because it's OK to be a dictator only if you're on the left!).

The usual omissions come as no surprise, like the fact that virtually every country in the world that has tried socialism has rejected it, normally after the the oppression, propaganda, and brutality became too much for the poor ordinary folk to suffer any longer. NKVD, KGB, Gestapo, Stasi - what wonderful state services are created to help people liberate themselves from dangerous thoughts about freedom! But that's alright, because in the whacky world of the radical left, socialism isn't wrong, it just hasn't been implemented in the right way yet!

But the biggest non-surprise of all is that Pilger, like so many of his ilk, thinks of himself as dangerously subversive, like an agonising thorn in the side of the establishment, too much for the 'mainstream' to handle. He is rather like his little loon followers in this regard, although he does it better:

"The censorship is such on television in the U.S. that films like mine don't stand a chance."

"Secretive power loathes journalists who do their job, who push back screens, peer behind façades, lift rocks. Opprobrium from on high is their badge of honour."

The trouble is that Pilger has written for a whole string of 'mainstream' media publications, appeared on countless 'mainstream' TV and Radio Shows, and is therefore a fully paid-up member of the 'mainstream'. If the brainwashed masses haven't come round to his way of thinking, then it must be a conspiracy on the part of the corporate media, despite the fact that we can read about his opinions in the Independent, Guardian, New Statesman, and other such publications of the 'mainstream', corporate media.

Pilger is a mainstream journalist in denial, albeit a very special one. If you read him, then you read it in the mainstream media. But if you dare to disagree with him, then remember that you are the victim of corporate media propaganda and indoctrination.

This is how the left deals with its political failure- everything becomes a conspiracy (and this is just one aspect of what is meant by lunity, paul).

Intimidation of the media, stocking the legislature with one's chums, extension of office, nepotism, use of the military against protesters, electoral fraud... in fact, all the sorts of things a chap like Pilger ought to detest.

Maybe not a fully-fledged dictatorship, but certainly a work in progress. Never forget how Hitler got into power, it's the most useful thing they teach you at school.

According to one of my favourite websites, Dictator of the Month:

"The National Guard or state police force in Venezuela has been accused of intimidation and bullying tactics of opposition, reminiscent of the Mussolini brownshirts in the 1930's. It is also troubling that nationalism and xenophobia are seemingly fostered by the government, combined with a push to have the population loyal to Chávez and not to the country. He has created a cult of personality about himself, creating the illusion to the masses that he is infallible; as a speaker Chávez has a bombastic style, literally working his audience up into a frenzy."

It doesn't matter whether it's Viscount Benn lauding Mao ("the greatest man of the 20th Century"), Pilger or Livingstone plugging Chavez, Gnome Chomsky reminiscing the erstwhile Soviet Union, or the whole lot of them having a big Stalinist collective fuck fest about what a lovely little paradise Cuba is to the point that you wish they'd all fuck off and live there, it is perfectly acceptable, even fashionable, to express solidarity with communist dictatorships. Certainly a conspiracy worth investigating.

@ AnonymousI was going to bother to answer many of your spurious and blatantly erroneous contentions, then I remembered Woody Allen's words as quoted by Pilger:

"I felt better when I abandoned hope".

There's obviously no hope that you could be dragged away from your, presumably comforting, right-wing world view. Enjoy it while it lasts as I suspect the forces of history will prove you wrong. To quote Marx:

"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles."

I know which side I'm on, and I'm happy to say, it's the opposite one to you.

Great to have you back Bridget, sometimes I feel a bit lonely around here.

Instead of aimlessly quoting Woody Allen (I heard that one on the radio twice this morning already), perhaps you would like to detail my "spurious and blatantly erroneous contentions" for the benefit of our educated middle-class readership?

And before clinging on to Marx, remember that his observations of social history were made "hitherto" 1867, and an awful lot has happened since then. Even within the limitations of his scope, I would be cautious about swallowing such a sweeping trans-historical generalization as that.

I do not have a "right-wing world view", whatever that means, but I do know which side I'm on, that of rationality, which is anathema to the radical left because it gives rise to the freedom of the individual, and inequality is inherent in that freedom. However much state control we suffer from now, it would soon pale into insignificance with the kind that would have to be imposed on us in the enforced egalitarian utopia you envision... and the rest, as they say, is gulags and mass-murder.

As I have tried to make clear in previous posts, but with no apparent success, we have a wide variety of Marxist-Leninist political parties in this country which can be voted for at general elections. The fact that fuck all of these parties gets any votes is not only testament to the reality that very few of the poor exploited proleteriat wants a revolution, it also raises the intriguing question of why it is the masses would not choose to end the capitalist 'system' that supposedly exploits them, even though they can do so on a ballot paper posted through their front doors. Marx certainly didn't anticipate it being as easy as that. I'll certainly be enjoying it while it lasts, Bridget.

Bridget, self-interested groups would be a more accurate description than class struggle, as people go into politics to further their own interests. You're welcome to try and prove otherwise, but I anticipate you will have some difficulty as you have managed to respond to very few of my points so far.

As for them making voting illegal, I don't know who 'they' are, but you can't predict something happening as a result of something that hasn't happened yet, can you? Some day you'll need to get over the fact that you hold a very small minority view.

I was reading this article yesterday and it occurred to me that the 'upside down world' described by the writer is precisely what the world looks like for you, be careful of the blood rushing to your head.

Uh, Allende? I'm glad you chose that one. To borrow a favourite Loon catch phrase, The World is not Black and White™.

"Historian Christopher Andrew argued that help from the KGB was a decisive factor, because Allende won by a narrow margin of 39,000 votes of a total of the 3 million cast. After the elections, the KGB director Yuri Andropov obtained permission for additional money and other resources from the Central Committee of the CPSU to ensure an Allende victory in Congress."

Not entirely democratic then. More Soviet involvement:

"According to Allende's KGB file, he "was made to understand the necessity of reorganizing Chile's army and intelligence services, and of setting up a relationship between Chile's and the USSR's intelligence services". Allende was said to react positively."

"According to Andrew's account of the Mitrokhin archives, "In the KGB's view, Allende's fundamental error was his unwillingness to use force against his opponents. Without establishing complete control over all the machinery of the State, his hold on power could not be secure"."

Hardly surprising, then, that with such provocation, and in the context of the Cold War, America sought to intervene (although the extent of that intervention is debated). Allende was a pawn in the pocket of the USSR, whose aim was to establish subordinate allies in the Americas.

And some more on socialists turning into fascists for you:

"On 22 August 1973 the Christian Democrats and the National Party members of the Chamber of Deputies voted 81 to 47, a resolution that asked the authorities[43] to put an immediate end to breach[es of] the Constitution . . . with the goal of redirecting government activity toward the path of Law and ensuring the Constitutional order of our Nation, and the essential underpinnings of democratic co-existence among Chileans.

The resolution declared that the Allende Government sought . . . to conquer absolute power with the obvious purpose of subjecting all citizens to the strictest political and economic control by the State . . . [with] the goal of establishing a totalitarian system, claiming it had made violations of the Constitution . . . a permanent system of conduct. Essentially, most of the accusations were about the Socialist Government disregarding the separation of powers, and arrogating legislative and judicial prerogatives to the executive branch of government.

Specifically, the Socialist Government of President Allende was accused of:

* ruling by decree, thwarting the normal legislative system * refusing to enforce judicial decisions against its partisans; not carrying out sentences and judicial resolutions that contravene its objectives * ignoring the decrees of the independent General Comptroller's Office * sundry media offenses; usurping control of the National Television Network and applying ... economic pressure against those media organizations that are not unconditional supporters of the government... * allowing its socialist supporters to assemble armed, preventing the same by its right wing opponents * . . . supporting more than 1,500 illegal ‘takings’ of farms... * illegal repression of the El Teniente miners’ strike * illegally limiting emigration

Seeing as the history has not supported your claims, perhaps we could leave it to Ant to pen an article on the symbolic links between the two September 11ths?

There were 28 years between the two events:

28 divided by 2 = 14,14 divided by 2 = 7 and 7 ....

7/7! Hey presto!

P.S. Bridget, I'm still waiting for details of my "spurious and blatantly erroneous contentions". Your erroneous contentions about Chile do nothing to undermine my contention that it is not illegal to vote for Marxist parties in the UK. It's just that very few people do.

man gets electedman's government works against vested interestsman scolded by allies for not using enough forceman denounced by oppositionman dies during armed coupfascist takes over to vested interests' likingpresides over long reign of terror

No Wikipedia is not the gospel, furup, St. paul writes that. I was using Wikipedia because Bridget linked to it in her post.

Of course, when debating with a conspiratard, any source you use is biased. The source is only plausible if it conforms with the loon minority view. Otherwise, it's part of some wide-ranging conspiracy to suppress the truth, with the creepy and ever-present 'vested interests' lurking in the background.

man gets elected (on a slim majority aided by KGB funding)man's government works against vested interests (eg, judiciary, constitution, media, farm owners, those who wish to leave.)man scolded by allies for not using enough force (then don't rely on their money to get you into power)man denounced by opposition (fair enough)man dies during armed coup(another) fascist takes over to vested interests' likingpresides over long reign of terror

The contention, paul, was that "if voting ever changed anything they'd make it illegal". This displays Bridget's complete ignorance of the number of changes brought about by voting in this country. Her evidence was Allende, a poor example and not from this country, but nevertheless the best she could come up with.

Allende's elected government was a good example of that contention.It was changing things and was violently replaced by a dictatorship that did get rid of those troublesome elections where people vote.

In this country, if a vote might change something, they just don't bother with it. E.g. The European constitution referendum.

In your facile equivalence between socialist and fascist, an elected president who is accused of violating the constitution and proposes resolution by popular vote, is the same as an unelected dictator who seizes power by force,suspends the constituion,bans opposition parties and murders opponents.

"In this country, if a vote might change something, they just don't bother with it. E.g. The European constitution referendum."

No paul, the Labour Party didn't bother with it, reneging on a manifesto commitment. Please be accurate in your posts, instead of always referring to this ubiquitous 'they'.

The Referendum Party was formed for the 1997 general election on the single issue of British membership of the European Union, taking nearly a million votes, mostly from the Conservatives.

UKIP, which came second in the 2009 European Elections with 13 seats, stands on a platform of withdrawal from EU integration.

The Conservative Party, long divided over Europe and in my view not to be trusted on past form, seems at last to be taking a more Euro-sceptic stance.

Also, most of the various far-left parties advocate withdrawal from the EU, as does the BNP.

I make no equivalence betwen socialist and fasicst, I only wish to show that socialist regimes very often take on the authoritarian characteristics of fascist regimes. This is because both far-left and far-right ideologies necessitate totalitarianism.

I did not claim that Allende and Pinochet were "the same", I pointed to the authoritarian tendencies which developed during Allende's short presidency and the fact that his slim majority was aided and by KGB funding. This brought him into the Soviet sphere of influence and on to an inevitable path of confrontation with the United States in the context of the Cold War. I fail to see how any of this supports an argument that 'they' would make voting illegal if it ever changed anything, even if you wish to take the debate to other parts of the world.

No paul, the Labour Party didn't bother with it, reneging on a manifesto commitment.

That's democracy for you! Gotta love it. Vote for a party on the basis of something 'they' say and 'they' will do as they please all the same.

The Referendum Party was formed for the 1997 general election on the single issue of British membership of the European Union, taking nearly a million votes, mostly from the Conservatives.

That's single issue politics. Gotta love and vote that too. That'll sort everything out, as long as it revolves around the single issue.

The Conservative Party, long divided over Europe and in my view not to be trusted on past form

In the grand old Labour/Tory 'democracy' governance scheme of things that, by your own admission, is half-ish (feel free to argue the toss about the proportionality of 'half-ish') of the representatives of democracy done away with.

I defer to the late George Carlin who said:

I don't really, honestly, deep down believe in political action. I think the system contracts and expands as it wants to. I think it accommodates these changes.

I think the civil rights movement was an accommodation on the part of those who own the country. I think they see where their self-interests lie; they see a certain amount of freedom seems good. An illusion of liberty.

"Give these people a voting day every year so that they'll have the illusion of meaningless choice".

Meaningless choice that we go like slaves and say "I voted". They -- the limits of debate in this country are established before the debate even begins.

And everyone else is marginalised and made to seem like they're communists, or some sort of a disloyal person; a kook - there's a word - and now its conspiracy, see.

They've made that something that is-- that should not be even entertained for a minute! That powerful people might get together and have a plan! "Doesn't happen! You're a kook. You're a conspiracy buff."

"That's democracy for you! Gotta love it. Vote for a party on the basis of something 'they' say and 'they' will do as they please all the same."

Then don't vote for the Labour Party, which is mostly made up of pro-European MPs, and especially not 'New' Labour, which has a proven track-record of lying. Seeing as you are inclined to scoff at democracy, can I take it you are antagonistic to democracy? I think it's time that you informed readers of your alternative Ant, I for one am just dying to hear it!

"That's single issue politics. Gotta love and vote that too. That'll sort everything out, as long as it revolves around the single issue."

So you are antagonistic towards both wingnut politics and single issue politics, in addition to democracy? The purpose of the Referendum Party was to take votes from the Conservative Party, thereby forcing it to realign with its broadly Euro-sceptic support. They knew that they stood no chance of getting into power on a single issue that most people couldn't care less about. UKIP indirectly performs the same function today, with the result that the Tories are now aligned with a Euro-sceptic and reformist coalition within the EP.

"In the grand old Labour/Tory 'democracy' governance scheme of things that, by your own admission, is half-ish (feel free to argue the toss about the proportionality of 'half-ish') of the representatives of democracy done away with."

That's democracy for you Ant! The trouble is that people tend to disagree with each other (take the infighting at Socialist [dis]Unity for example). Some Tories, for instance, believe European integration is a good thing for this country, others do not. There is a genuine ideological difference of opinion and it splits both the party and its support. I would rather have the diluted politics of parliamentary democracy than be subject to the personal whim of a dictator, benign or otherwise. Your problem with democracy appears to be that you can't get your way. I'm afraid that isn't a problem with democracy Ant, it just means very few people agree with you.

Bridget- people elect capitalism every time they do not vote it out.

Young Conserva-tard- sorry, but I really don't know what you're blathering on about. Please construct sentences next time.

paul- I don't want to get into another interminable stoat/weasel-type debate with you, but at pain of repeating myself: I do not claim that all socialists are fascists, only that the socialist revolutionary very often behaves like a fascist once he is in power. When Ant finally informs us off his alternative theory of government, you will very quickly see where it is going.

I do not think you are in a position to lecture me on answering questions Bridget, but here goes.

While researching my answer, I came across this, which sums up my argument nicely so I don't have to bother typing it out:

Capitalism is Not a System

"One of the common misperceptions about capitalism is that it's a system. To wit (via King):"The capitalist economy is on the verge of collapse. Capitalism as a system has failed," Ahmadinejad said in a speech at the opening of the Economic Cooperation Organization summit in Tehran.

As an old boss of mine used to quip: consider the source. Source considered.

More to the point, though. To be a system, something has to be created and controlled from above. Capitalism, on the other hand, is what emerges when people are given the liberty to contract with whom and how they see fit. In other words, capitalism is not something that is created nor imposed, as folks like Naomi Kline and her ilk may feel. Capitalism is that thing we see when we give people economic freedom. It is, therefore, not a system.

Communism and socialism, on the other hand, are things that must be imposed from above. They involve commanding and controlling the ownership of resources and output and, therefore, involve imposition by government bureaucrats. Both involve forcibly taking from some to give to others. In short, both communism and socialism are systems, systems that have failed miserably to improve human society."

So in answer to your question, it wasn't elected in and it's about as old as when man first realised that farming was more efficient than running around spearing things. And that was a long time before we could vote.

I agree with Ahmadinejad, Capitalism is a system, an economic system, a system of production based on private ownership. Source? The dictionary.

As for voting, working-class men of the non-property owning masses could go and die for 'King & country' in the great Imperialist slaughter of 1914 - 1918, yet couldn't vote. That 'right' wasn't granted until 1918 and then only to men over 21 and certain property-owning women over 30.

All is change, all is process, Capitalism, now in crisis, has not been and will not be here forever.

There is no such thing as an impartial source Ant, did you not study history? What you have failed to do is read the source and make an argument for why it is wrong. In any case, why shouldn't an "academic economist" comment on the subject of economics? Oh, I remember, because the source is only acceptable if it conforms with the loon minority view. Otherwise... yep, you guessed it... it's a conspiracy!

Both Bridget and you appear to have missed the point about "considering the source". I have a sneaking suspicion that the author means to convey that it's a bit fucking rich for Ahmadinejad to go about lecturing to the West on the failure of Capitalism considering that:

a) He is perilously close to fucking up the economy of his own country. In fact, if it weren't for all that black gold under the ground then Iran would be a basket-case by now.

b) He hides the above failure by provoking America and whipping up the kind of nationalist fervour that ought to make a loon cry 'fascist!' (But then he's neither white nor Western, so I suppose in your eyes he can't be that.)

c) He rigs elections. (I suppose that's OK because you don't have much time for democracy either Ant.)

"They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets."

-Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (aspiring Conspiraloon)

Consider the source. In this case the source is clealy one or two sandwiches short of a picnic.

Nail A Nobody™

Thanks to the Conspiraloon™ Alliance laboratories, you can now Ruin Those You Resent without leaving your personal computer!

Enter the person you wish to inform on:

Select transgression:

Who would you like to be informed?

Antagonista Zeitgeist

"The country's biggest force, the Metropolitan police || believe that large sections of the population have become increasingly politicised, and there is a growing sense that the current restrictions on demonstrations are too light." - The Guardian

"The bombers scattered identity and bank cards around the Tube carriages they targeted before placing their rucksacks on the floor and setting off the explosives. || Although they were damaged to some extent, they [the ID and bank cards] did not show the damage that would be expected if they were on the body of the bomber or in the rucksack, suggesting that in each case they had been deliberately separated by some distance from the actual explosion. || The bombers were not wearing the rucksacks at the time of the explosions, but had instead put them down on the floor of the bus and Tube trains." - The Telegraph

"But it [de Menezes execution MPS trial] was nearly derailed after an armed police raid on the home of a juror's ex-boyfriend in the second week of the case, in which the female juror's baby was taken away." - Daily Mail

"It is no exaggeration to say that at the time of the arrest there was not one shred of admissible evidence against Barot. The arrest was perfectly lawful - there were more than sufficient grounds, but in terms of evidence to put before a court, there was nothing. There then began the race against time to retrieve evidence from the mass of computers and other IT equipment that we seized. It was only at the very end of the permitted period of detention that sufficient evidence was found to justify charges. I know that some in the media were sharpening their pencils, and that if we had been unable to bring charges in that case, there would have been a wave of criticism about the arrests. Barot himself of course eventually pleaded guilty last year and received a 40-year sentence." – DAC Peter Clarke

The 7/7 narrative: "06.49: The 4 men .... each put on rucksacks || 07:14: .... The 4 then put on their rucksacks...." More....

"The [21/7] jury were told a further charge of conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life, faced by each man, was now being left off the indictment." – BBC

"Tony Blair and his family suffered the indignity of having to sleep on the floor and eat an Indian takeaway out of foil cartons on their last night in Downing Street, insiders have revealed." – The Times